Caught in Posession
by Sayuri1
Summary: World Cup chaos has descended upon Japan, giving Yohji the perfect opportunity to surprise Ken. [shonen-ai] [Yohji x Ken] [complete]


Author: Sayuri (sayuri_tama@hotmail.com)

Title: Caught in Possession  
Rating: PG-13  
Type: short one-shot

Spoilers: Ken's past with the J-league (is that even a surprise to anyone?)

Warnings: soccer, shonen-ai

Pairing: Yohji x Ken

Disclaimer: WeiB Kreuz is not mine, of course. It belongs to the awesome Koyasu Takehito, Kyoko Tsuchiya, and Project WeiB.

Summary: World Cup chaos has descended upon Japan, giving Yohji the perfect opportunity to surprise Ken.

Author's notes: This is my first Yohji and Ken fic, brought on by the fact that I can't turn on the tube without seeing something about the World Cup in Japan, which of course, naturally led me to thinking about our resident WeiB soccer player… I hope to make this the first in a series of YoKen shorts ^_^

Enjoy! 

~~~~~~~~~

_*Yes folks, World Cup Fever has officially taken the world by storm, and the stage for it is right here in Japan! And we'll have full ongoing coverage…*_

Yohji groaned and closed his eyes tight, willing the racket to disappear. The noise from the radio had seemed to get progressively louder as the day wore on, and by close, he had a massive headache. For the past few weeks the excitement surrounding the World Cup had been building around the country, and now that it was here, Yohji decided once and for all that he hated, beyond the shadow of a doubt, soccer. 

It was everywhere: on the television, on signs, on the radio – hell, he couldn't even go to the liquor store without seeing evidence of the sport. It was obnoxious, it was irritating, and above all else, it was loud. 

The blond shook his head a few times to clear it and attempted to block out the sounds of dozens of disappointed fangirls that Aya was valiantly trying to push out of the shop. He continued cashing out, inwardly marvelling at how much business had picked up over the past few days: the Koneko was doing a roaring trade in the small white and red or blue arrangements the girls were constantly buying; not to mention the numerous bouquets being ordered and shipped off to hotels around the city where foreign teams were being hosted.

            Finally finished, Yohji closed the till, nodded to Aya, and headed up to the flat the four WeiB shared, the thought of a nice bottle of Aspirin and a warm bath the only thing propelling his feet up the stairs. He climbed slowly, revelling in the quiet. 

"GOAL!!! YES!" 

"Shit!" Yohji yelped, startled. He stumbled slightly, grasping on to the rail in the stairwell to keep his balance. The shout echoed in the stairwell, quickly joined by a chorus of enthusiastic cheers. 

"JA-PAN! JA-PAN!! GO!" the blond cringed, putting his left hand to his temple and trying not to lose his temper. In truth, what bothered him most about the onslaught of soccer mayhem wasn't the crowds or the extra work: it was Ken. His normally cheery behaviour had reached almost impossibly genki levels, and he now rivalled Omi as the most annoying person to be around first thing in the morning. When he wasn't on shift or out coaching the kids, he had sequestered himself in the basement, ensconced in front of the wide-screen television and the round-the-clock coverage of the games. It wasn't the first time that Yohji had outwardly cursed Kritiker and their selection of a building with paper-thin walls. 

            Determined to get some quiet, the man turned on the stairs and thudded down to the basement and the source of the shouting. 

            "What are you DOING?! DEFENSE!!"       

The room was dark, the glow of the television illuminating the lone form on the couch, surrounded by a variety of snack foods, sports drinks, and a thick schedule booklet. Yohji descended the steps and cleared his throat politely, hoping to get Ken's attention without having to resort to physically placing himself between the boy and the blaring television like he did earlier in the day when he brought down the younger boy some lunch. 

No response.

"Ken." Yohji tried again, slightly louder, still being drowned out by the television. "OI, KEN!" 

_*And let's check out the lineup Japan's got for this exciting tie match! Yes, it's a strong side with ace goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawagushi looking in good shape to lead  the team to their first World Cup win!*_ The announcer continued, the screen showing images of the player making a series of spectacular dives at a barrage of oncoming soccer balls. 

Yohji sighed and tried a different tact, approaching the couch and standing beside Ken. "I guess he's pretty good, ne?" he asked, feigning an interest for the sake of conversation. 

"Good? He's great!" Ken replied enthusiastically, not bothering to look up from the screen. "He started out in the J-League, but he's a member of a club in England now, you know…Look at that!" 

"Tch! Didn't look so good to me! The ball went straight through." Yohji pointed out.

Ken waved his hand absentmindedly at Yohji. "Yeah, but that's because you don't know anything about soccer. He didn't stop the shot, but did you notice his technique? He's got a lot of power in his…"

Yohji's attention wandered as Ken rambled on about the goalkeeper. In truth, he couldn't give a hoot about any kind of sports, other than checking out some of the players…Yohji started to appreciate the goalkeeper on his own level, when he caught another glimpse of Ken's face, and for that moment, his heart almost stopped.

Ken's bright smile had disappeared, replaced by a dark cloud which had descended over his features. He had seemed to forget his audience in the room as he silently listened to the announcer and watched the file footage being flashed across the screen. *_Now folks, you'll see in this comparison shot that, in my opinion, the J-League has really been without a goalkeeper worthy of the World Cup and this match since the late 1990s, and I think looking at this footage you'll see what I mean…look at how Yoshikatsu, despite giving it his all, really can't compare to Hidaka's stopping power…*_

"Shit." Yohji thought, looking quickly from the screen back to his teammate, not daring to speak.

"He's right, you know." Ken said, softly, the bitterness clear in his voice. "I could have stopped that goal. I…I…shit, what am I saying?" Ken looked down for a moment and put his head in his hands, swallowing hard. "It's not worth thinking about, is it?" He looked back up to Yohji, his eyes marked by pain. "Is it, Yohji?"

Yohji shook his head. "No, it's not." He smiled. "What is worth thinking about, though, is supper! Would you like to go grab some pizza? My treat."

Ken smiled. He knew that Yohji was offering him an easy out of this conversation, away from the awkwardness of the moment. He looked from his taller teammate and back to the television, clicking the off button. He'd watched enough TV for the day, and besides, he was hungry! 

***

Dinner was a casual affair, with pizza and beer in the kitchen with Aya pulling overtime in the shop to get ready for the chaos of the next day and Omi locked in the depths of his room, most likely studying. Yohji would have preferred going out to eat, but as it was next to impossible to get away from the soccer mayhem, he opted for ordering in.  Besides, it was nice to get some time alone with Ken, on top of which, the last thing Yohji wanted to hear more of tonight was the word "soccer." 

"So, what did you think of the soccer game?" Ken piped up, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. Yohji inwardly groaned, swallowing his pizza and shaking his head. 

"Ken, isn't there anything *else * we can talk about besides that damn sport?" It came out harsher than he had intended, and at the crestfallen look on Ken's face, Yohji cursed himself.

They had been working together for years, but had rarely had moments like these, alone together without some sort of easy banter to fill the silence. Usually, Omi would talk about school or the shop, Aya would, on his rare days, try to contribute something from a book he had read, and Ken would babble on about his soccer kids or a game he had seen. It wasn't often that the conversation broached any depth, and now that Yohji had opened the door, he wasn't sure where he wanted the conversation to go. 

"Well…um" Ken faltered for a minute, thinking. A mischievous grin came over his face as he leaned in close and said in a low voice, "Did you see the look on Aya's face today when Keiko-san slipped him that love note?" 

Yohji laughed. Gossip, he could handle. 

***

            After three hours of easy conversation and a few beers shared between the pair, Yohji had been the one to call it a night, citing old age and promising to take Ken up on his offer to treat them to dinner next time. As he relaxed into the warm bath, the blond admitted to himself that he liked the thought of there being a "next time" with Ken. And perhaps a time after that, and again, after that…

As he fought to stay awake in the warm water, he replayed the events of the evening, a slow, sad set of realizations dawning on him.

Ken loved soccer, probably more than anything else. When he wasn't on missions, he was playing it, coaching it, watching it. His obsession was actually a bit of a puzzlement for the other WeiB, who, although they had their own outside activities, rarely pursued them with the degree of passion that Ken showed for the game.

Yohji could remember a somewhat foggy conversation that took place over a year ago, after Ken had been forced to kill his old best friend, Kase. Yohji had come home plastered one night to find Ken down in the basement, sprawled out on this couch, a large bottle of cheap sake sitting empty on the table. This was a surprise in itself, because no matter how things went, Ken rarely drank heavily. After much slurred talk that was mostly Ken's sake and Yohji's liquor, Ken had broken down, sobbing against Yohji's chest. 

For the first time since he had joined Weiss, Yohji had seen beneath Ken's hotheaded exterior to the broken and defeated boy inside. The boy who had grown up an orphan, playing soccer with the other kids in the mission. The boy who, despite the odds, had finally made it to the top league in the country, only to be shamed and driven out by those he should have been able to trust. It wasn't only his former identity that had died that night, but also his dreams of becoming one of Japan's best players. Of one day being noticed internationally, and even perhaps leaving Japan to join one of the top clubs overseas. Eventually, he would be able to settle down, have a family, and coach full-time.

Yohji knew then that his seemingly overzealous attachment to the sport now was simply a way for him to cling on desperately to some remnants of the dreams he had held onto in his previous life; a fragment of the person he once was. He had never forgotten his sadness and his anger on that night when he had listened to Ken's story through his sobs and slurred speech, never forgotten the wounded and vulnerable look in his aqua eyes as he finally admitted that there were lots of times when he wished that the warehouse fire had killed him. 

It was the first time when Yohji had really *looked * at Ken, and what he saw made his chest tighten and his mind burn. It was a feeling that he had ignored with all his might, hoping to eradicate his unnatural and unwanted attraction to his younger teammate. Now, however, Yohji found himself feeling much the same way he had on that night as he thought of Ken enthusiastically watching the goalkeeper shine on international television while he sat here in that lonely basement, waiting for a mission which would send him out to kill.  

"It should have been you out there, Ken…" Yohji murmured under his breath. "It should have been *you.*"  Yohji opened his eyes and stepped out of the tub, resolved to do anything in his power to give Ken a break from the life he never wanted a part of. To give him, just for a minute, a bit of the dream he once had.

~~~`~,~@

Yohji forced the grin off his face and tried to act nonchalant as he entered the flat, not wanting to do anything to give away the surprise in his pocket. He calmly strolled into the kitchen and withdrew a long, thin envelope with Ken's name in bold typeface on the front and placed it on the table where even Ken couldn't help but notice it.                                                                                                                                                          

He stood back and eyed the envelope and frowned slightly, deep in concentration. Something was missing…Yohji snapped his fingers as he crossed the kitchen and snatched a red and a white flower from the arrangement above the sink and carefully placed them next to the envelope. In truth, he had no real clue as to why those colours were so popular with the girls in the shop, but if they said "soccer" they were just the thing. He stepped back once again and admired his handiwork before nodding in satisfaction. 

Perfect!

Now where was Ken? Since he wasn't downstairs, Yohji strained his ears to listen for the telltale sounds of the television in the living room, but heard nothing. "Strange," he thought. "I coulda sworn he'd be glued to the thing."

Right on cue, Ken burst into the kitchen, soccer ball slung under one arm, dirt covering his well-worn faded jersey, sweat streaking down his forehead. He nodded to Yohji as he bolted for the sink, turning the tap to full cold and sticking his head under. 

Yohji stood by the fridge and watched in amusement as Ken shrieked with the first cold spray, but then felt his mouth go dry as Ken turned off the taps, pulled his head up and promptly peeled off his soiled shirt. The water from his hair dripped down his firm chest, and Yohji had to quickly look away to avoid embarrassing himself. "Is it possible for anyone to be that sexy without realizing it?" he wondered to himself, forcing his hormones to be quiet and eagerly waiting for Ken to notice the envelope on the table. 

"Well, I'm off to shower! See you at supper." Ken smiled as he headed for the hall, walking straight past the table. 

Yohji cringed. So much for subtlety. "Uh, Ken, I think there's something for you on the table." he said, in a casual tone. 

"What? Hey, there is! I never get mail." Ken commented, as he reached for the envelope. He tore into it like a kid with a Christmas present, and quickly scanned the contents.

"June 28, two tickets for the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Yokohama City, returning on July 1; reservations at the….hey, this is a good hotel! But…" Ken trailed off, looking up in confusion at Yohji. "I don't understand. There's no return address or postmark. Who…?"

"We're going away for the weekend." Yohji replied, re-folding his arms and trying to sound as if this were nothing out of the ordinary.

"On a mission?" Ken asked, still confused.

"No…consider it more of a birthday present."

Ken tipped his head to the side. "But Yohji! My birthday's not until December…" Ken trailed off, noticing for the first time the long envelope Yohji held in his right hand, the bright "FIFA" logo unmistakable. 

"Okay, a really *early * birthday present!" Yohji laughed, tossing the envelope with the tickets in it to Ken. Ken caught them disbelieving, shaking slightly as he opened the envelope to confirm for himself what was inside. Two tickets to the World Cup Final, and not bad seats at that.

Ken was struck dumb. "But the shop—" was all he could manage.

"I talked the others into giving us some time off." Yohji added hastily. Actually, "talked into" was phrasing it gently: in truth, he'd had to threaten, plead, and eventually beg Aya into relenting, finally agreeing to pull double shifts and open every day for two weeks. It wasn't really necessary to mention that, though; the last thing Yohji wanted was for the mood to be spoiled by Ken developing a guilt trip over missing two days of work. 

At Ken's silence, Yohji began to fret, thinking that perhaps his great idea wasn't as great as it seemed. Maybe the last thing Ken wanted to do was go to a professional soccer match after all these years, or maybe Ken simply didn't want to go away with him. It could be awkward; after all, three days away, just the two of them…

"If you don't want to go, that's okay, I'm sure I can pawn them off on someone else…" He began, sounding uncertain.

"Don't you dare!" Ken exclaimed, looking up at Yohji for the first time, his eyes bright, unmistakable joy on his face. "I just can't believe you did this for me." He added quietly.

"Hey, for us, right? I'm getting a holiday, too." Yohji smiled wide. The tickets had cost a fortune, and the world knew that he hated morning shifts more than anything, but that look on Ken's face was worth it. 

"Yeah…for us." Ken replied, looking back down at the table and noticing the pair of flowers. "You got the wrong colours, you know." Ken smiled. "But I love that you tried." Ken smiled again and placed the envelopes back on the table. "I think it's about time I had that shower, though."

Ken once again started to the door when he stopped, turned, and looked back at Yohji standing there wearing with a satisfied smile. He slowly walked back across the room, ignoring the sound of his own heartbeat thundering in his ears. By their own volition, it seemed, his arms wound around Yohji's waist and he pressed himself chest-to-chest against the taller man, ignoring the little voice in the back of his head which told him that this was wrong, that is was risky, that he would only get hurt by doing this. Instead, he just wanted to let go and tell Yohji how touched he was, how much he appreciated what Yohji had given up for him, how he hadn't felt this warm tingling inside of his stomach with anyone else before, and how very much it frightened him.

What he said was, "Thank-you."

Yohji looked down at Ken and smiled, feeling more content than he could remember with Ken's arms wound around him. He reached up one hand and placed it on the back of the brunet's head, the other wrapping itself around the boy's waist. It felt like the most natural thing in the world to tip his head down and press his lips softly to the forehead of the shorter boy in his arms. They stood like that for a moment, Ken gently holding onto Yohji's shirt and leaning in to the warm pressure of his mouth. The older boy started to pull away first, looking down at Ken with unguarded affection in his eyes.  

"Don't mention it."

"Ne, Yohji…" Ken asked, not letting go.

"Yes?"

"I thought you hated soccer?"

"Well…I do. But for you, it's worth it."

Ken smiled, closed his eyes, and tightened his hold on Yohji. They might have lived in a world where love seemed to be the cause of more pain than joy, but for right now, it didn't matter. For right now, all was as it should be.

~~ Owari ^^


End file.
